Reversible flow gas propelling device



May 15, 1934. H. s. MESSING REVERSIBLE FLOW GAS PROPELLING DEVICE FiledMay 16, 1952 2 sheets-sheet .1

Fins.

INVENTOR. /j'cllmdr $.Mess1'ng B n @m fm,

ATTORNEY.

May l5, 1934.

H. s. MESSING 1,959,106 REVERSIBLE'FLOW GAS PROPELLING DEVICE Filed May16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Hjczlmar S. Messing -ATTORNEY.

; Patented May" 1934 v aavsasrnmnowessraormmo nevica 1 Messing,Milwaukee, Wis., assigner to wila y. corporation o fNew'Yo Applicationmy is, 193s. semi No. custo s claim. (ocaso-42) The invention. relatesto'gas propelling devices and especially to devices for reversing thenow of gas as well as for propelling the gas.-

It is among the objects of the4 invention to 5 provide blowing deviceswhich will operate to force gas in to one part of 9T gas system andwithdraw the gas from anotherA part of the'system.

Another object of the 'invention is to provide for of the kind, it willbe described with reference to metallurgical furnaces such as openhearth furnaces which are operated witha forced draft .of heated air.

Accordingly, the reversible blower comprises a plurality of gas drivingunits, such as blowers or propellers, mounted to be turned on a shaft.The blowers are adapted to be shifted axially ofthe mounting to bringthem in cooperative relation with inlets and outlets end one -or'theother of them in'cooperative. relationwith a suitably disposed stack.Disk partitions orvalve' members are mounted` to turn with the blowersand are disposed on the mounting at the ends and between the blowers sothat in one position, one blower and the valve memberswill ibe broughtVinto a feeding position with respect to a supply conduit and a deliverypipe,and theother will be brought into a discharging position withrespect to an- 'other supply conduit and the stack. Upon a predeterminedaxial displacement of the blowers and Avalves onl the mounting, they arebrought into .discharging andfeeding positions respectively with respectto the same conduits and the blow of gas becomes reversed thereby. f

lirithe drawings constituting a part hereof,

Fig. l is a plan view of la reversing blower with parts of the casingbroken away, 5o Fig. 2 is a similar view of the device shown in 1 Fig. lwith the blower and valve members shifted for reversing the flow/of gas,e

. Fig. 3 is` a plan view of a blower broken away showing a modificationof the. device 'shown in Fig.1,

can be embodided in devices for various liurboses' with partei Fig. 41sasimilar view of the device shownI inf Fig. 3 with the blower and valvemembers shifted for reversing the ow of gas, and

1 Fimo is a diagrammatic representation of a regenerative furnaceshowing the arrangement thereof in accord ce with the present invention.4

Referring 'to the drawings, a blower casing 1 is providedwith deliverypipes 2 and 3 which are connected to regenerators 4 and 5 which may 65be constructed in accordancev with well known design."y .Theregenerators are vconnected through conduits 6 and 'I to the oppositeends of an open hearth furnace 8. Fuel nozzles' 9 are disposed at the,ends of the furnace to inject fuel into the heated air .which enters thefurnace through the -conduit or 'l as the case may be. When'thedirection of the gas flow is such that the' conduit 6 or 7:' constitutesa conductor for discharged gas, the corresponding fuel injectorisclosed. t The propellers l0 and disks or barriers 11 and l l'-aremountedon a shaft 12 which is splined or squared. at one lencl 13` toprovide a sliding fit in a complementary connection member Vv11.1. onthe motor shaft 15 ofthe driving motor 16. Clears ance isjprovided inthe connection '14 at the end ofthe shaft to permit .the-necessary axialdisvplacement of the shaft l2. Y 'Theshaft lzismountedinthebo gs 20 and`2l in the ends of the casing l `and t e other end -85' y of the shaftis extended through the casing' suiciently to permit the necessary`displacement of the blowers. ..The" end of the shaft is connectedthrough a thrust bearing 22 with a control device lwhich axiallyactuatesthe shaft and blowers to give them the desired displacement foreffecting a reversal of the flow of gas.

The thrust control consists of a cylinder 25 with pipes 26 and27`connected through acontrol' vvalve 28 and a pipe 29 t'o a source ofair,under pressure. A piston 3l is mounted in the cylinder 25, and thepiston rod 32, which extends through the packing 33, is attached to thethrust bearing 22 so that the piston rod 32 may thrust the shaft t 12axially without turning the piston and rod 32. "100.

The valve 28 is suitably provided with'pass'ages so that in one positionof the valve, one side of the piston 31 will-be connected withthe'pressure source and the other side will be connected with theatmosphere through the exhaust pipev 34 to 105 thrust the piston andshaft to one side. -The shaft ls actuated into its opposite extremeposition by turning the valve 28 so as to 'connect the'other side of thepiston to the pressure source and the space in back of thepiston to theexhaust pipe 34. no

, The propellers 10 are spaced apart on the shaft 12. The propellers arebiased to draw the gas from opposite directions when they are rotated inthe same direction- The arrangement shown in v5 the drawings is forpropelling the gas streamstonecessarily, given a spiral or curvedsurface to offer the least resistance to the flow of the gas. Endbarriers 11 are spaced from the propellers and mounted in the casingsimilarly to barrier 17. These barriers may desirably have curved innersurfaces shaped to offer minimum resistance to the ow of gas. The outersurfaces of the barriers 11 are desirably planed to conform to the endwalls of the casing when they are in extreme end positions to avoidcirculation of air at the ends of the casing near the bearings. Thebarriers and propellers may desirably be spaced equally but otherspacing can be used by making corresponding changes in the outlets inthe casing. A

With thepropellers and barriers in an extreme end position, such as theextreme right endV position shown in Fig. 1, the delivery pipe 2 fromthe furnace is disposed to open into the casing between the left barrier11 and the left propeller 10, and the pipe 50 to the stack 51 opens intothe casing between the propeller 10 and the intermediate barrier 17 sothat by turning the shaft in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. 1,

the gas will be drawn from the furnace through the pipe 2 and propelledthrough the casing 1 and stack pipe 50 into the stack 51. In thisposition of the propellers, the air supply conduit 55 is disposed 'tolopen into the casing in the clearance space at the left end of thecasing as shown in Fig. 1 and so that there will be a substantialclearance between the opening into the casing and the left end barrier11. The delivery pipe 3 is disposed to open into casing 1 so that theperipheral edge of the intermediate barrier 17 will overlap thecasingand constitute a barrier between the gas discharge space 52 and thespace 53.

The propeller l10 in the feed gas space 53 is biased to take air fromthe feed conduit 54 and discharge it into the delivery pipe 3 when it isrotated in the described direction. The fresh air conduit 54 is disposedto open into the casing -to the right of propeller 1Q a distance suchthat the iight end barrier 11 will be disposed alittle to the left ofthe opening when it is moved into its opposite end position as shown inFig. 2. In the position shown in Fig. 1, it will be observed that thegas pressure in the fresh air space 53 will tend to be slightly higherthan the pressure in the exhaust gas space 52. Consequently, the gaswhich may leak aroundthe peripheral edges of the barriers 11 and 17 tendto pass into the exhaust gas, and the airwhich is propelled into pipe 3will not be'vitiated with exhaust gas. Furthermore, the cool airentering through conduit 54 and around the end bearing will cool the endbarrier and the bearing. The bearing on the opposite end will be cooledby cool air which tends to be drawn therearound.

In the oppositeA end position of the propellers as shown in Fig. 2, theright end barrier 11 is disposed to close communication 'between the airconduit 54 and the pipe 3. The intermediate barrier 17 is disposed toopen communication between pipe 3 and stack 51, and to closecommunication between pipe 2 and stack 51. The left end barrier 11 willhave been moved into an extreme left end position in which communicationis established between air conduit 55 and the pipe 2. The abovedescribed direction of rotation of the propellers causes air to flowfrom conduit 55 through the space 56 into the supply pipe 2 which leadsto the regenerators or the furnace, as the case may be. The air conduit54 is disconnected treme to the other extreme position, the direc.

tion of flow is reversed without changing the direction of rotation ofthe propellers.

l The quantity of air delivered by the blowers may be regulated by acut-olf, such as the butterfly valves 58 in the air conduits 54 and 55.

Gas systems which provide regenerators between the blower and thefurnace require a delivery of more' or less highly heated gas to theblower. In the described arrangement the propellers alternately handlehot and cold gases so that they are alternately heated and cooled andthe average temperature of these parts is automatically maintained belowthe temperature of are made in the form of spirals. The spiral ducts 62and 63 lead to the pipes 2 and-3 respectively and spiral duct 64 leadsto the stack 51. The intermediate barrier carries the vanes 60 andplates 65 which plates are mounted on the outside ends of the vanes. Theplates 65 have central openings which provide intake ports for therunners and outer peripheral anges whichare spaced with a smallclearance from the wall of the casing to provide the inner wall of theduct around the runner. The end barriers 11 may be flat disks as shownin Fig. 3 but the inner surfaces of the barriers may desirably be formedto avoid turbulence Iin the gas as shown in Fig. 1. In. operation, therunners and barriers are shifted axially to reverse the ow of gas in-thesame manner as the propellers and barriers shown in Fig. 1. It will beobserved that the modification shown in Fig. 3 provides acompact'structure which may be assembled in a small space.

Although the invention has been described with v ternately with respectto the conduits and stack openings, a shaft carrying blowers, one ofsaid blowers being disposed in the casing for taking gas from one ofsaid conduits and delivering it to one of said pipes, the other blowerbeing operable to take gas from the other pipe and deliver it to thestack, and means coacting with said blowers for closing thecommunication between the other of said conduits and a blower.

2. A gas propelling device which comprises a blower casing, supplyconduits opening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to openinto the enclosure of the casing between thel conduits, delivery pipesdisposed to open into the casing alternately with respect to the conduitand stack openings, a shaft carrying blowers, one ofWsaid blowers beingdisposed in the casing for taking gas from one of said conduits anddelivering it to one of said pipes, the other blower being operable totake gas from the other pipe and deliver it to the stack, means coactingwith said blowers for closing the communication between the other ofsaid conduits and a blower, and means for shifting said blowers withrespect to said openings to reverse the flow of gas in said pipes andestablish communication between a blower and said other conduit.

3. A gas propelling device which comprises a casing, supply conduitsopening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to open into thecasing between the conduits, delivery pipes along the casing arranged toopen thereinto alternately with respect to the conduit and stackopenings, a plurality of gas propellers, a longitudinally disposeddriving shaft for rotatably mounting the propellers, and means to shiftthe propellers axially of the shaft across the openings of the deliverypipes to reverse the flow of gas in said pipes and maintaincommunication to the stack from one of said pipes. I

4. A gas propelling device which comprises a casing having supplyconduits opening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to openinto the casing between the conduits, delivery pipes along the casingarranged to open thereinto alternately with respect to the conduit andstack openings, a longitudinally disposed driving shaft `rotatablymounted in the casing, opposed propel- 1ers spaced on the shaft so as todispose one propeller between a conduit and a delivery pipe and todispose another propeller between another delivery pipe and a stack,barriers disposed on both sides of the propellers to preventcommunication ,between said conduits and stack, and means for shiftingthe propellers and barriers axially of the shaft to dispose them ondiametrically opposite sides of said openings.

5. A gas propelling device which comprises a casing having supplyconduits opening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to openinto the casing between the conduits, delivery pipes along the casingarranged to open thereinto alternately withrespect to the conduit andstack openings, a longitudinally disposed driving shaft rotatablymounted in the casing, a plurality of gas driving means spaced on theshaft so as to dispose one ofsaid means between a conduit and a deliverypipe and another of said means between another delivery pipe and a.stack, barriers carried on both sides of said driving means andintegrally operable therewith to .close communication between saidconduits and stack, and means to shift the gas driving means andbarriers transversely across the openings.

6. A gas propelling device which comprises a casing having supplyconduits opening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to openinto the casing between the conduits, gas delivery pipes along thecasing arranged to open thereinto alternately with respect to theconduits and stack, a longitudinally disposed driving shaft rotatablymounted in the casing, means for axially displacing theshaft andretaining the same in predetermined displaced positions, driving meansfor rotating the shaft, a plurality of propellers mounted to turn withthe shaft and biased to induce gas flow in opposite directions, one ofsaid propellers being disposed between a conduit and a delivery pipe andanother being disposed between another delivery pipe and a stack whenthe shaft is displaced into one of said predetermined positions, andbarriers on both sides of the propellers integrally shiftable there-`with to close communication between said conduits and stack, said axialdisplacement being arranged to shift the propellers to the oppositesides of said delivery pipes and gas conduits.

7. A gas propelling device which comprises a casing having supplyconduits opening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to openinto the casing between the conduits, gas delivery pipes along thecasing arranged to open thereinto alternately with` respect to theconduits and stack, a longitudinally disposed driving shaft rotatablymounted in the casing to shift to predetermined end positions, anintermediate barrier mounted to turn with the shaft and form a sealingmeans with the casing to alternately close communication between thestack and a pipe as it is shifted to end positions and to opencommunication with the other pipe, centrifugal blowers including vanesmounted on opposite sides of the intermediate barrier and partitionshaving central supply ports on the outside ends of the vanes to drivethe gas and confine the flow thereof, end barriers on the shaft spacedfrom the blowers'to alternately open communication with said pipe and aconduit and close communication with said other pipe and another conduitwhen the blowers are shifted to end positions, means to rotate theshaft, and means to shift the blowers and barriers axially.

8. A gaspropelling device which comprises a casing having supplyconduits opening into the casing, a stack connection disposed to openinto the casing between the conduits, gas delivery pipes along thecasing arranged to open thereinto alternately with respect to theconduits and stack, a longitudinally disposed driving shaft rotatablymounted in the casing to shift to predetermined end positions, meanscarried by the shaft to drive i air from a conduit into a supply pipewhen the shaft is in one of said positions and from another conduit toanother pipe when the shaft is in the other end position, means forrotating the shaft, and means for shifting the shaft and said drivingmeans into said end positions.

HJALMAR S. MESSING.

